254 
SHRUBBY CINQUEFOIL. 
shall beg to be excused from encouraging its 
cultivation. 
Remarks on Diet .—These remarks are just 
like some others that I have heard charac¬ 
terised as “ pearls.” Do you remember where 
they were “ cast?” Before some animals that 
are about as regardless of their diet, as some of 
the fashionable gormandisers of this “ enlight¬ 
ened age.” 
Spent Tanners ’ Bark, a Good Manure for Straw¬ 
berries. —So is any other spent wood. Nothing 
better than the fine chips from the wood pile, 
rotten leaves, or logs from the woods; though, for 
most people who have none of these conve¬ 
niences, I would recommend a slight dressing 
of guano. 
Green Vegetable Manure, “ has been used for 
2,000 years.” Yes, by Nature much longer than 
that, and will continue to be used, but man is so 
full of wisdom he thinks he can beat her. 
Ah, this is where I am going to stop for a 
month, with Nature and those who love to read 
her book and your Reviewer. 
SHRUBBY CINQUEFOIL. 
Thinking that some notice of the hardback, a 
very troublesome shrub, is desirable, I send you 
a short description of it and its habits. 
Hardhack is applied in books to a species of 
spirsea, but in this region, it is given to the 
shrubby cinquefoil, ( Potentilla fruticosa ,) which 
well deserves it. A warning voice is often 
raised against the Canada thistle, dock, and 
other noxious plants, but here we have one 
which is making its insidious but rapid advances 
upon us, and public attention has never been 
directed to it. Even Darlington’s Agricultural 
Botany, treating of useful plants and weeds, con¬ 
tains no notice of it. This plant is a shrub 
sometimes growing four to five feet high, vet 
beginning to flower and produce seeds at the 
height of six inches. It is much branched, with 
a reddish bark hanging in loose scales and 
strips, resembling, both in color and appearance, 
that of the grapevine. Leaves pinnate or divided 
into 5-7 divisions, and, with the young branches, 
are covered with fine hairs. The plant is easily 
distinguished at a distance by its dark bluish- 
green appearance. It flowers from June to 
September, producing an abundance of small 
yellow flowers, similar to the common five- 
finger, {Potentilla canadensis,) at the extremity of 
its numerous branches. It is a native of New 
England and the other northern states, and, as 
here, it chooses a cool, damp situation, I think 
no danger need be apprehended from it in the 
southern portion of our country. 
The hardhack spreads entirely by its seeds, 
which are very numerous, and it is the most 
insidious of all the vegetable plagues which in¬ 
fest the farmer in this region. You will not 
notice it in any new position, unless care is 
taken, until it is so firmly established, as to be 
able to defend itself with considerable obstinacy. 
A few seeds dropped by birds or carried by the 
wind take root in a favorable locality, and in a 
few years, a numerous progeny is established 
around them. Then, they literally “take the 
field,” and as they never give up any position, 
they may take, except with life, and as they are 
never known to die of their own accord,"well 
may the farmer be on the “ look-out” for 
them. 
Ten years from the establishment of a fort, 
is long enough for this shrub to spread over 
several acres; although it prefers a moist soil 
when it has obtained foothold, it will advance 
on that which is quite dry, seeming by its 
shade to keep the ground damp and favor¬ 
able to it. Twenty-five years ago, it was 
scarcely known in this region; but now thou¬ 
sands of acres, which were then valuable pas¬ 
ture, are covered with it. Those lands, which, 
from their moisture or roughness are kept in 
permanent pasture, are its chosen fields of 
action. 
In meadows, it is prevented from seeding 
and spreading by mowing, although the roots 
are not killed by the operation. Plowing, 
where practicable, eradicates it. Close pastur¬ 
ing, at all seasons, keeps it in subjection, for it 
rarely obtains much foothold in the highway, 
although the fields on both sides may be cover¬ 
ed with it. Animals eat it sparingly, (as it is 
very bitter,) with other food, but they will starve 
on hardhack alone. I have seen where a com¬ 
mon rail fence seperated a field often plowed 
from the highway, the latter to be clean as well 
as the field, with the exception of the fence 
corners beyond the reach of the plow, where it 
was nearly as high as the fence and covered 
with seeds. Plowing where the land will admit, 
and pulling by hand, seem, as yet, to be the only 
effectual remedies applied to this pest. The 
latter is easily accomplished, if taken in season, 
for large bushes can be pulled without difficulty. 
And if any one observes a few of them by the 
side of the brook or marsh, make short work 
with them at once, as they will soon give you a 
long job; for here emphatically “ a stitch in time 
saves nine.” 
A thorough system of underdraining must 
accompany our other labors, or we shall be 
“ driven from the field in disgrace. The use of 
the land, when covered by this plant, may be 
considered as equal to nothing, so that if the 
land can be made to yield more than the 
interest of draining and clearing, we may set 
that down as clear profit. 
I would also propose that attempts be made 
to establish a growth of timber on lands occu¬ 
pied or threatened by it. Some of our valuable 
native forest trees might be planted, or perhaps 
the European larch, (which delights in a similar 
soil, grows rapidly, and is very valuable for 
timber,) might be introduced. T. S. Gold. 
Cream Hill, Ct., May, 1850. 
How Much Pork will a Bushel of Corn Make ? 
—By some experiments tried, it is believed that 
a bushel of corn, fed to a thrifty hog, will make 
12 lbs. of pork. So that corn at 24 cts. is equal 
to pork at 2 cts., and corn at 72 cts. a bushel is 
equal to pork at 6 cts. a pound. The manure 
will more than pay for the labor of feeding and 
killing the hogs.. 
